The purpose of this research is to develop physical methods for determination of the chemical linkage and three dimensional folding of oligosaccharides. Our methods are intended for small samples in the range of 10 to 100 micrograms of oligosaccharide. For structural determination, our methods include gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and ultraviolet optical activity. The conformational studies are based mainly on circular dichroism bands due to amide chromophores of N-acetyl amino sugar residues. The methods will be applied to oligosaccharides derived from the acidic glycoprotein of erythrocyte membranes. The aim of the research is to relate structure and conformation to immunological activity. Our ultimate objective is to gain sufficient insight into the relationship between structure and immunologic activity to be able to chemically synthesize oligosaccharide antigens for use as synthetic vaccines.